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MUMBAI: The controversial Decision Review System (DRS) will not be used during the forthcoming limited-overs series between India and England due to the unavailability of infra-red cameras, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday.
The developers and suppliers of Hot Spot have decided not to make their infra-red cameras available for the five ODIs and a lone Twenty20 match in India, the ICC said in a statement.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has been a strong opponent of the use of ball tracking technology in DRS but agreed to the ICC’s proposal of a modified version of the technology which allows teams to challenge umpire decisions.
The modified version of DRS, minus the ball tracking technology, was used during India’s recent tour of England and requires mandatory use of infra-red cameras.
However, the BCCI’s newly elected president N. Srinivasan said last month that the board does not wish to use the DRS even in its minimum form after the Hot Spot technology drew flak for inconsistent results during the tour.
“At the time, we were under the impression that Hot Spot was very good. It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy of Hot Spot, it was there for everybody to see,” Srinivasan said.
“The BCCI will, at the next ICC meeting, raise the issue. We want to revisit it because we feel that Hot Spot is insufficient.
“We do not wish to use the DRS in its present form, even in its minimum standard.”
Meanwhile, former India coach Gary Kirsten was surprised at the disappointing show of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men in the recent tour of England, which saw them lose the world number one Test spot, but said they are good enough to bounce back.
"It has surprised me. The injuries haven't helped. For me, they're a good enough cricket team that they can come back. It has been a disappointment. They probably lost a bit of momentum," Kirsten said.
"It's been a little bit sad to watch them not play well because there was much anticipation around that series in England. Also with Duncan (Fletcher) coming in as new coach and he's just been there for a couple of months, he needs to stamp his mark about what he's going to do. I guess it was always going to be a difficult time upfront," Kirsten, who is now the coach of South Africa, was quoted as saying by a cricket website.
Kirsten praised England for their performance, saying they were the much better side than India during the English summer.
"England are a quality cricket team. They are well coached, have a good structure, good people, they have stability in their team and are putting India under pressure. I don't think they'd been put under pressure (by India) in the whole series."
